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Byline: KEITH MARTIN
Six classic-car auctions netted a record $135 million in Monterey Aug. 15-20, as the divergence that marks this year's market continues. The best cars increased in value, and the rest tailed off to affordable levels.
This was particularly reflected in record prices attained for exceptional Ferraris at Gooding & Co. and RM Auctions and the continuing slide in prices for bogus clones and other unremarkable muscle cars.
A longtime observer noted that many average cars sold at the bottom of their estimates and that Monterey was a buyer's market for the first time in years. A punter with a $100,000 credit line faced a lot of choices.
Among the glitterati, the top sales were $4.95 million for a 1959 Ferrari California Spyder Competizione at RM, $4.45 million for a 1959 Ferrari California GT at Gooding and $4.51 million for a 1931 4.5-liter "blower'' Bentley at Gooding.
The world's oldest operable car, an 1884 De Dion, Bouton et Trepardoux steamer, brought $3.50 million at Gooding and might have made even more if it had been driven over the block.
Gooding also netted $2.97 million for a 1912 Rolls-Royce limousine. It was one of nine Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts belonging to philanthropist Richard Solove. All sold without reserve, raising $12.50 million for cancer research.